VISITS TO 9 PRESCHOOLS:

I have the pleasure to visits 9 Preschools in our Command. These are Rubirizi Preschool sponsored by Sweden/Latvia territory, Rutobwe Preschool Sponsored by AUS territory, Catherine Booth kayenzi sponsored by AUS territory, Nyagatare, Gituro Preschool sponsored by AUS territory, Rwimiyaga Preschool sponsored by Netherlands territory. The five Sponsored preschools. I also visited the none- sponsored preschools. These are; Bitare Preschool, Rubuye Preschool, Rukeri Preschool and Runda Preschool which is sponsored by small donations.

RWIMIYAGA AND NYAGATARE GITURO PRESCHOOLS.

The Visits started on 01.09.2016 from chq going to Nyagatare and Rwimiyaga preschools. The journey started at 6.30 a.m and arrived first at Rwimiyaga at 09.00 a.m and we found children waiting for us together with their teachers. And later the section officer and the corps leader came in. I had to speak to the children and the teachers concerning the preschools. When I asked if the children were taking Porridge, the teachers answered me no for two weeks. The corps leader closed the porridge flour in the office and he was not giving out the key because of his personal issues with the section officer.

I had to solve the problem before handing over the School materials which were books, pencils, pens,markers,erasers,plastic cups 48,plastic basin1,jugs 2, drawing books, black board erasers, A4 papers 1 ream,  2 boxes chalks, and other small things. And all this came from the donations sent for gifts.

The place is very dry, for almost one year without rain, no food water and people are running away to look for green pastures. The children are only depending on the porridge given to them for their going. Animals are dying because of lack of water and grass.  And even life has really changed for everybody. The school has 58 Children with 2 teachers and 1 cook/cleaner and it’s doing well. On behalf of the children they appreciate so much for th

NYAGATARE <GITURO PRESCOOL. 

I arrived there at 10.30 a.m and I got the children learning English. It was wonderful to hear them read the words like jug cup. The section officer was able to introduce me to the children and the teachers and later I had time to speak to the children telling them the purpose of my visit. The Children were very happy to hear that I had brought them materials for learning because some had no book to write and even pens.

The place is the same as that of rwimiyaga, very dry and people are really running from the place to look for food and water for their families. They get water from very far and one Jeri can is 400 rwf. Which is too expensive? Even the section officer has to hire somebody to bring them water because the tank they have has no water and it needs repair before the rain starts.. So life in Nyagatare is very hard.

I had time to hand over the preschool materials to the section officer who is the school administrator. I gave out; exercise books, Drawing books 3 dozens, Pencils 50, pens 10 erasers 6,2 sauce pans,2 basins, 48 plastic cups, 2 jugs,1 football ball, chalks 2 boxes, blackboard dusters, manila papers, Note books for teachers, red pens. The Children are happy playing with the ball, though the son is too hot as seen. Thanks to all our donors for the donations for gifts. They need to have classrooms.

RUBIRIZI PRESCOOL:

The journey started from Chq at 7.00 am on 04.09.2016 accompanied by Section Officer Captain Obed who is the school administrator. Candidate secretary/education Coordinator captain Damascene. And the journey was okay and we arrived at 9.30.a.m.and we got the children and the teachers waiting for us by singing and dancing. Rubirizi preschool is situatedose sponsoring them and making sure they are learning as other preschool.

NYAGATARE <GITURO PRESCOOL. 

I arrived there at 10.30 a.m and I got the children learning English. It was wonderful to hear them read the words like jug cup. The section officer was able to introduce me to the children and the teachers and later I had time to speak to the children telling them the purpose of my visit. The Children were very happy to hear that I had brought them materials for learning because some had no book to write and even pens.

The place is the same as that of rwimiyaga, very dry and people are really running from the place to look for food and water for their families. They get water from very far and one Jeri can is 400 rwf. Which is too expensive? Even the section officer has to hire somebody to bring them water because the tank they have has no water and it needs repair before the rain starts.. So life in Nyagatare is very hard.

I had time to hand over the preschool materials to the section officer who is the school administrator. I gave out; exercise books, Drawing books 3 dozens, Pencils 50, pens 10 erasers 6,2 sauce pans,2 basins, 48 plastic cups, 2 jugs,1 football ball, chalks 2 boxes, blackboard dusters, manila papers, Note books for teachers, red pens. The Children are happy playing with the ball, though the son is too hot as seen. Thanks to all our donors for the donations for gifts. They need to have classrooms.

RUBIRIZI PRESCOOL:

The journey started from Chq at 7.00 am on 04.09.2016 accompanied by Section Officer Captain Obed who is the school administrator. Candidate secretary/education Coordinator captain Damascene. And the journey was okay and we arrived at 9.30.a.m.and we got the children and the teachers waiting for us by singing and dancing. Rubirizi preschool is situated

On the right track
-Are we really going this way?
-This is a cow path, right?

Preschool in the Hall
The preschool meet in the Salvation Army Hall that was built when the village was built. It was then the Community Center and still works like that when needed.

There is no room for the preschool, so we take out the black board, the chairs and tables when school is in and take it out at holidays and weekends. 100 children attend Gituro preschool and every day the children get porridge for nourishment.

 

Going to school?
To attend preschool is a new thing here. The government want every child to go, but cannot afford to give it to them. Rwanda is still trying to reach the goal to get 100% of the children to attend primary school from age 7 (7-13) which is free of charge. About 95% of the children start Primary but less than 75% finishes. And if you want to go to Secondary school (lower 13-16, upper 16-19) you and your family will have to pay all fees, school uniform, materials, transport, everything, so very few families can afford that.

Can´t I stay?!
Captain Grace: ”Our biggest dream right now is to be able to  build and run a primary school, because the children here don´t want to leave our preschool at age 7. The families think it is too far to walk the two hours all the way to town and to the primary school there. So we have the  older children here still and are trying to teach some primary for them. We believe that we can do as good a job for a Primary school as we do for Preschool"

 The Salvation Army Sponsorship supports this preschool. Our donors and sponsors supply with nourishment, education and Early Childhood Development for all these children. We are very happy to have all of you to help fight poverty and empower these families with all this.
We are also happy for our teachers. They are GOLD! I don´t know how we would manage without them...

In Gituro, Mrs Ruth is the teacher/boss :) ...So now we want to say
Thank you for sharing our childrens life!

Photos: Carolina Tuftstrom
Photo shop: Anna-Maria
All photos can be used by permission for The Salvation Army work. Others just send an e-mail and we´ll work it out :)